Kent City School District
Address
321 North DePeyster Street
Kent
, Ohio, 44240
United States
Coordinates41°09′24″N 81°21′21″W / 41.15667°N 81.35583°W / 41.15667; -81.35583
District information
TypePublic
GradesPre-K through 12
Established1860
SuperintendentTom Larkin
NCES District ID3904416[1]
Students and staff
Students3,273 (2021–22)[1]
Teachers189
Staff273
Other information
Websitekentschools.net

The Kent City School District is a public school district based in Kent, Ohio, United States. It serves approximately 3,100 students living in Kent, Franklin Township, Brady Lake, and Sugar Bush Knolls, as well as a small portion of southern Streetsboro.[2] The district has seven schools including four elementary schools housing kindergarten through fifth grade with preschool housed at one elementary school; Stanton Middle School for grades 6–8; and Theodore Roosevelt High School, which houses grades 9–12. The superintendent is Tom Larkin, who began his tenure August 1, 2023. Larkin previously served as assistant superintendent and has been with the district since 1996.[3]

History

The district was formed around 1860[4] by merging several smaller one-room school house districts into one centralized district for the village. As Kent was still known as Franklin Mills, the district was originally known as the "Franklin Union School District".[5] The district would continue to be known as a "Franklin Union" district even after residents voted to change the name of the village from Franklin Mills to Kent in 1864. During the 1860s, the district began to divide the students in the school houses by grade level. As a result of the curriculum and management changes, the district elected to close the schoolhouses and erect a centralized building for all grades. Although initially planned for 1868, construction delays prevented the building from opening until March 1869. During the school year leading up to the opening of the new building, which would initially be known as the "Union School" and later as "Central School," students in the high school grades were housed at the Franklin Township Hall[6] in Kent while all other grades remained at their respective school house. The building would serve as the home of all students until growth in the community necessitated the construction of two additional elementary schools: South School in 1880 and DePeyster School in 1888.[4] Even with the new schools, the original Union/Central building would be the home of Kent High School until 1922.[4]

This building originally served as Theodore Roosevelt High School when it opened in 1922. It would later serve as Davey Junior High School/Davey Middle School from 1959 to 1999, and since 2000, as Davey Elementary School.

As Kent continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, new schools and changes became necessary. A new high school was built in 1922 and was named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. The original Union School continued to be used as an elementary school known as Central School until 1953 when a new Central Elementary School was constructed on its predecessor's front yard. Following the completion of the new school, the Union School building was torn down. Additional elementary schools followed first with the construction of Longcoy Elementary School on the city's west side. By 1958 the high school had outgrown its facility, so a new high school building was built on the north side of the city. It retained the name of Theodore Roosevelt and the former high school building was rechristened as Davey Junior High School in the fall of 1959 when the new high school opened. 1959 also saw the merging of the Franklin Local School District and the Brady Lake School District into the Kent City Schools,[7] which added two more elementary schools: Franklin Elementary and Emma Williard (Brady Lake) Elementary. The 1960s saw the last elementary schools built in Kent with the opening of Holden Elementary in 1965 on the city's south side and Walls Elementary on the east side in 1966.[8] Most of South School was razed in 1966 following the completion of Holden except for the building's gym which was leased to the Kent Parks and Recreation Department and used as the Kent Recreation Center. Enrollment growth through the 1960s and into the 1970s resulted in additions at Walls School, Davey Junior High School, and Roosevelt High School. Also in 1970, the district entered into a cooperative agreement with the Stow-Munroe Falls, Cuyahoga Falls, Woodridge, Tallmadge, and Hudson school districts to provide vocational education. This compact, known as the Six District Compact, was the first of its kind in the state of Ohio.[9] In 1978, ninth graders were moved from Davey to Roosevelt, Emma Williard School was closed, and the school board moved into offices in the renovated DePeyster School building.[10]

Facilities

Administrative
Facility Location Head Photo
District offices 321 N. DePeyster St.
41°9′24″N 81°21′21″W / 41.15667°N 81.35583°W / 41.15667; -81.35583 (Kent City School District offices)		 Tom Larkin,

Superintendent
Transportation Center 1633 St. Clair Ave.
41°8′20″N 81°21′52″W / 41.13889°N 81.36444°W / 41.13889; -81.36444 (Kent City School District Transportation Center)		 Richard Lewis[11]
Christenson Operations Center 1205 Brady Lake Rd.
41°9′51″N 81°20′18″W / 41.16417°N 81.33833°W / 41.16417; -81.33833 (Kent City School District Christenson Operations Center)		 Robert Munroe
Elementary schools
School Grades Location Principal Faculty* Enrollment* Photo
Davey Elementary School PK–5 196 N. Prospect St.
41°9′27″N 81°22′1″W / 41.15750°N 81.36694°W / 41.15750; -81.36694 (Davey Elementary School)		 Abbey Bolton[12] 26[13] 450[13]
Holden Elementary School K–5 132 W. School St.
41°8′33″N 81°21′34″W / 41.14250°N 81.35944°W / 41.14250; -81.35944 (Holden Elementary School)		 Todd Poole[14] 14[13] 254[13]
Longcoy Elementary School K–5 1069 Elno Ave.
41°8′45″N 81°22′56″W / 41.14583°N 81.38222°W / 41.14583; -81.38222 (Longcoy Elementary School)		 Janice Swan[15] 16[13] 276[13]
Walls Elementary School K–5 900 Doramor St.
41°9′29″N 81°20′43″W / 41.15806°N 81.34528°W / 41.15806; -81.34528 (Walls Elementary School)		 Heidi Singer[16] 21[13] 367[13]
Middle school
Stanton Middle School 6–8 1175 Hudson Rd.
41°10′8″N 81°21′47″W / 41.16889°N 81.36306°W / 41.16889; -81.36306 (Stanton Middle School)		 Kathy Scott[17] 47[13] 659[13]
High school
Theodore Roosevelt High School 9–12 1400 N. Mantua St.
41°10′8″N 81°21′22″W / 41.16889°N 81.35611°W / 41.16889; -81.35611 (Theodore Roosevelt High School)		 Dennis Love[18] 80[13] 1,267[13]
Former schools
School Grades Location Building status Years operated Notes Photo
Franklin Elementary School K–5 6662 SR 43
41°10′17″N 81°21′8″W / 41.17139°N 81.35222°W / 41.17139; -81.35222 (Franklin Elementary School)		 Sold to Davey Tree in 2021[19] 1922–2014 Served as Franklin Township School, 1922–1959
Central School 200 N. Mantua St.
41°9′20″N 81°21′44″W / 41.15556°N 81.36222°W / 41.15556; -81.36222 (Central School Annex)		 Leased to the LEAP program[20] 1953–2014 Housed Central Elementary School, 1953–2000
Annex of Roosevelt High School, 2000–2014
Emma Williard School 1–8; K–6 1945 Brady Lake Rd.
41°10′08″N 81°19′27″W / 41.168988°N 81.324028°W / 41.168988; -81.324028 (Emma Williard School)		 Sold to private developer; addition demolished, original building renovated into condos 1923–1978 Merged into Kent Schools 1959
Union School/Central School 1–12; 1–8 200 N. Mantua St.
41°09′22″N 81°21′44″W / 41.155978°N 81.362330°W / 41.155978; -81.362330 (Union School)		 Demolished 1953 1869–1952 Housed all grades, 1869–1922
Replaced by new Central School, 1952
South School K–6 1115 Franklin Ave.
41°08′36″N 81°21′36″W / 41.143306°N 81.360104°W / 41.143306; -81.360104 (South School)		 Demolished 1966 1880–1966 Replaced by Holden Elementary School

* = enrollment and faculty numbers as of the 2018–19 school year

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Kent City". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  2. ↑ Exner, Rich (January 20, 2015). "Property tax rates for 2015 up for most in Greater Cleveland/Akron (database)". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ Hardesty, Tom (June 21, 2023). "Kent City School District named a new superintendent". The Portager. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Wardle, Michelle (2005). Images of America: Kent. Charleston, South Carolina, USA: Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 0-7385-3381-5.
  5. ↑ Brown, R.C; Norris, J.E. (1972) [First published in 1885]. History of Portage County Ohio. Chicago, Illinois: Warner, Beers, and Company. p. 441. It is not clear when the district's name was changed to the current "Kent City School District." It was still being referred to as "Franklin Union" in this book, 21 years after the name change to "Kent".
  6. ↑ "About Franklin Township". Franklin Township. 2006. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2008.
  7. ↑ Di Paolo, Roger (March 19, 2006). "New chapter for old school". Record-Courier. Kent and Ravenna, Ohio: Record Publishing. pp. A5.
  8. ↑ Kent Historical Society Book Committee (1999). Darrow, Ralph (ed.). Kent Ohio: The Dynamic Decades. Kent, Ohio: Kent Historical Society. p. 14.
  9. ↑ "Six District Educational Compact" (PDF). SixDistrict.com. Six District Educational Compact. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  10. ↑ Darrow, pp. 173-176
  11. ↑ "Transportation Information". KentSchools.org. Kent City School District. 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  12. ↑ "About Davey". KentSchools.org. Kent City School District. 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Kent City School District Search Results". National Center for Education Statistics. 2022–23. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  14. ↑ "About Holden". KentSchools.net. Kent City School District. 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  15. ↑ "About Longcoy". KentSchools.net. Kent City School District. 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  16. ↑ "About Walls". KentSchools.net. Kent City School District. 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  17. ↑ "About Stanton". KentSchools.net. Kent City School District. 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Administration". KentSchools.net. Kent City School District. 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Kent schools, Davey Tree Expert Co. exchange land on North Mantua Street and Hudson Road". Record-Courier. May 1, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Addresses". TheLEAPProgram.net. 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
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